Realization of social values manifested in the European Capital of Culture of San Sebastian in 2016

Abstract

The cultural city is a policy that aims to activate culture and arts in specific cities and achieve urban regeneration through them. The cultural city concept originated in 1985 with the European Capital of Culture program and has since expanded globally. In this paper, we focus on San Sebastián, which was designated as the European Capital of Culture in 2016, to examine the social values pursued by the European Capital of Culture and its specific case. Through San Sebastián's goals and detailed projects as the European Capital of Culture, we can identify several key points. Firstly, San Sebastián addressed the issues of violence and conflict inherent in the city and also explored the coexistence issue, which is a concern across Europe, through cultural arts. Secondly, it is based on citizen participation. From the challenging stage of competing to be the European Capital of Culture to the preparation and implementation stages after being selected, citizens were actively involved, and they were encouraged to conceive and execute projects that benefit the citizens themselves. Thirdly, the scope of the project is not limited to San Sebastián but extends to the Basque region and even throughout Europe. Additionally, the European Capital of Culture program expanded not only city-to-city networking but also networking at the organizational level.